The Term Sheet: A Startup Thriller Novel by Lucas Carlson

with how much traction you’ve gotten in just the last few days. Those numbers are impressive and I like impressive numbers. I’d like my colleagues to see it. Can you make a short video pitch, outlining the big idea? We’ll need it by this Friday to have a chance at the next round of applications.”
    “Um, sure.”
    “Great, I’ll send you an email with more details and a contract. Just to be explicit here, the video is merely an audition. There are no guarantees you’ll get on the show. This is a long process, and if my colleagues don’t like the pitch, that’s the end of the line. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, no guarantees, got it.”
    “Right, good. But I like you, David, just from our brief conversation. And I like the concept of Cryptobit a lot. Hate the name, but this is something people need to see. People are skittish about the NSA. Your little program could be just what they didn’t know they needed. Okay, well, I’m sure you’re busy, so I will let you get back at it. Check your email for instructions. If you can find a professional videographer to help make your video, it wouldn’t hurt.”
    “Okay.”
    “Good luck, talk to you later.”
    “Bye.”
    David stopped walking. Twilight had turned to darkness in what felt like a few fleeting moments. David was emotionally and physically exhausted. The day felt heavy, but full of promise. He wanted to tell someone. He wanted to run back and tell Megan, but didn’t think she would understand. He wanted to call Andrew, but didn’t want to have to explain what had just happened with Megan. He wanted to call Heather, but she was probably already asleep. He lingered on the thought of his sister. He wondered how she was really doing. Yes, she was strong, always had been. But something did seem off when he saw her last.
    David walked back toward the music. A night breeze began to blow, but David didn’t notice. A world of possibilities flooded his head. He wondered what Tom Lewis was really like. Would he be able to hang out with him afterwards? What was he going to do with the money from Pitch Deck ? Or would someone see him on TV and buy his company instead?
    Maybe it would all just fall apart. What if people just laughed at him? What if Megan broke up with him? What if this ruined his friendship with Andrew?
    David was lost, not only in his thoughts, but on the street. The music had long since faded away. He looked around at the quiet street, trying to get his bearings. An owl hooted, but he could swear it was asking “now what?” instead of “who?”

Chapter 15
    A lthough his leg was still giving him trouble, the wound was scabbing up rather nicely. Ever since he was a kid, he’d hated pills. Gabriel had offered to get him opium to smooth out the ride, as he’d said. But he hated even taking Tylenol. He couldn’t stand having a foggy mind. He despised being out of control. He wanted to be present and aware, even if that meant temporary discomfort. This too shall pass, he would repeat to himself. It always did. Sometimes he made a game out of sitting back and watching it pass. Like one day when he was twelve years old playing hide-and-seek. He loved playing hide-and-seek so much that he would hide around the house waiting for his father to get back from work. His mind fondly drifted back to those days.
    “Buddy! I’m home. Where are you?” his father would say. His father, Frank Thompson, had started out as an errand boy for a construction company and worked his way up the ranks to eventually create one of the larger construction companies on the East Coast. His company built office buildings and more than a few strip malls. Things had been going great for his dad. His mom had passed away when giving birth to him, and his dad never remarried, but they were well off and relatively happy, even though they never lived a luxurious lifestyle.
    But the government shutdown in 1995, after an extended fight between President Clinton and the Republican